WZO Trust Funds and Jiyo Parsi work together in South Gujarat

With the kind cooperation and support of Mr Dinshaw Tamboly and the Members of the local Committee at Navsari of the W.Z.O Trust Funds (Mrs Sharmin Tamboly, Mr Cyrus Vandriwala, Mr Rohinton Contractor, Mr Aspi Ambapardiwala, Mrs Simin Bharda and Mrs Pauruchist Kadodwalla), a workshop for parents was held for the first time at Navsari on Sunday 14th June 2015.

Report by Pearl Mistry, Jiyo Parsi Counselor

Members of the Parsi community who had children in the age group of 3 to 15 years participated in the workshop. Ms. Pearl Mistry, counsellor for the Jiyo Parsi programme conducted the programme stressing the importance of enjoying the journey of parenthood and balancing work and family.

The spacious and well maintained hall of Jamshed Baug was filled with more than 60 Parsi parents, all eager to know about modern techniques of understanding and disciplining their children. Unconditional acceptance,anger management, understanding the emotional needs of children today and developing good study habits were some of the interesting topics covered in the workshop. Games, debates, worksheets, fun and food together made the event a memorable one.

The unique concept of Five Love Languages, languages used by every individual to express love was explained. The participants were very enthusiastic and participated actively in the games played. The concept of Love Languages helped the parents to understand the emotional needs of their child.

The audience also enjoyed an interesting debate – 2 v/s 1 describing benefits of having two children as compared to an only child. The audience were the jury and judged that having two or more children is better for the child.

Learning disability and alternative methods of teaching children with special needs were other interesting topics that were covered. The need to create awareness about learning disabilities in schools and amongst parents, need for counselling and remedial education for children facing learning disabilities and setting up counselling facilities to do that were discussed.

The participants went back with a new and different outlook on parenting and also about their decision about the number of kids in their family.

The objective of the workshop was to create awareness about the JiyoParsi scheme, especially the cashless treatment for fertility issues started at D.N.Mehta Sarvajanik Hospital, Navsari. The couples were also encouraged to have a second or third child as it was not only good for their first child but also for the community.

Mr. Dinshaw Tamboly informed the gathering that a philanthropist residing in USA has agreed to remit Rs.1,500,000 (Rupees fifteen lakhs) to D. N. Mehta Sarvajanik Hospital towards supporting young Zoroastrian couples from economically challenged backgrounds that undertake treatment under the Jiyo Parsi scheme by meeting their expenses that are in excess of the amounts reimbursed by Jiyo Parsi Scheme as also for pre and post maternity treatment.

The parenting workshop was part of the ongoing efforts of the advocacy component of the Jiyo Parsi Programme, a scheme sponsored by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India. It aims to influence the mindset that the Parsi community currently has about the size of family especially the single child norm. For any community to survive the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has to be at-least 1.8 whereas the TFR of a Parsi woman is only 0.8. It was thus imperative that awareness be created and steps taken to stem the decline in population that the community is facing.

Jiyo Parsi & The WZO Trust Funds can only paraphrase the words of Mother Teresa “We cannot change the world, but we can at least cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples”.

Let us believe in ourselves and keep the faith, for as Rabindranath Tagore wrote “Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark”. With God All Things Are Possible For Those Who Believe!!!